


the most dangerous highstorm

by izukillme



Series: forged by the storm within [1]
Category: Cosmere - Brandon Sanderson, Stormlight Archive - Brandon Sanderson
Genre: Gen, Not Canon Compliant, Pre-Book 01: The Way of Kings, Sort of? - Freeform, dark!Renarin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:46:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22798033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/izukillme/pseuds/izukillme
Summary: Ever wondered why there were no assassination attempts against Dalinar and Adolin?
Series: forged by the storm within [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1641259
Comments: 14
Kudos: 18





	the most dangerous highstorm

_ “Weak.”  _

It is a whisper that has followed Renarin for as long as he can remember, nipping at his heels like a playful puppy. It trails in the shadow of his billowing blue coat as he walks down hallways, lowering his head to shield against the looks of barely veiled hostility he receives from every corner.

The heir and the spare. Renarin knows that his father doesn’t think of him like that anymore, but he also knows the rest of the court does. He is the faulty back-up son who will take up the seat of highprince in the unlikely event that his far more capable father and brother pass before their time. Any other court might have whispered about the shame it was for Dalinar to have such a poor son; the Alethi merely plot and plan, as they have always done. After all, a weak highprince, especially one ruling a princedom as powerful as Kholinar, is the perfect tool for exploitation.

It is lucky, then, that Renarin Kholin is not weak. 

He sips his yellow wine, the brim of his cup hiding his small smile as he watches Brightlord Seveks topple over in the middle of a drunken gesture. His wife rushes to his side, alarm in her pale green eyes, but Renarin knows that the man will not wake.

Blackbane poison tends to do that to you. 

He will shake his head, later, say in a soft and demure tone, “A shame. He was a good man,” and comment on the matter no more. But there will be an edge to blue eyes that wasn’t there before, a sharp warning to the entire Alethi court that this is only the beginning of it all. 

Two months after, Brightlord Sharn will pass in a similar way. A sudden heart-attack following a series of mysterious fits corresponding to the symptoms of blood weakness. 

Afterwards, Renarin will simply ‘happen upon’ the detailed notes of the plans to depose Adolin and Dalinar between Sharn and Seveks. He will give them to Elhokar with sadness in his eyes, voicing softly that he hates to speak ill of dead men, but that these plots tear his heart apart and that he could not keep silent on them any longer. And during the investigation, while his father paces and his brother and cousin spit with fury, he will watch with a smile on his lips as the Alethi lighteyes look at him with new regard, wariness in their gem-coloured irises as they size him up. Knowing now that he is not someone to be taken lightly. 

It is a shield as much as it is a sword. This fear that he has instilled in them now will go a long way. There will not be talk of assassinating Adolin or Dalinar for a few years, perhaps a few decades if Renarin is lucky. There will be no threat to his father or brother - and that is enough.

The most dangerous highstorms are the ones that brew over months and months. They attack at the most unexpected moments, in the most unexpected places, and blow past anything that has the remotest chance of toppling them. Renarin has long since given in to the storm within his calm and composed soul. That storm will not let him rest, not until every threat to his loved ones is destroyed. And if he has to do it with his own shaking hands, so be it. 

For Renarin Kholin will be weak no longer. 

**Author's Note:**

> here I am with that Renarin-centric drabble I promised! this seems like a very Renarin thing to do and ik it's not canon compliant, but... yeah! I really like the way this came out tbh. please comment if you enjoyed it!


End file.
